When I was finished Mr. Drowning said, "Well... I'm sure you'll get better with practice." But either way here is my first go with my drop spindle! I used some cheap craft store roving meant for needle felting because I was too afraid to touch the gorgeous superwash merino I bought with my drop spindle on etsy. We just moved into a new apartment and things have been so stressful I felt like doing something relaxing. I really love spinning! I think my main problem is that I try and move more quickly than I should, and also I have no idea what I'm really doing. So hopefully my second attempt will look much better than this one, but without further ado, here is my first 14 (ish) yards of spun yarn! I think I'm going to knit a coaster for my desk with it.

Several years ago, I started the dread process on my hair and let my dreads grow naturally. I did it at the time for frivolous means- I hated brushing my hair. Within minutes of brushing it, it would tangle again and no conditioner that I had tried did any difference. I'd always liked the look of well-kept dreadlocks and to be honest, I felt that while I was working for family it may be my last chance to do something that other people might not understand with my hair. My locks ended up taking on more meaning, becoming a part of me. The fact that before I moved 1400 miles away from my family, my little sister had helped me to get the knotting started was part of it. I wore my hair in locks for two years and they became more than just an experiment to see if a hairstyle I'd loved since childhood was really all that great. They came to be completely fused with the way I saw myself.

I struggle with depression and OCD. My dreadlocks gave me something to count, a way to calm down when I felt very anxious, and watching them grow, overtake one another, split apart, curl and knot made me very happy. After a couple of years I found that I had different coping mechanisms, a wonderful partner that I could count on, and I was largely ignoring my dreads. While I didn't need them anymore, they were holding me back at work. I decided to cut them. It was a very emotional experience, which sounds kind of lame. It's just hair, right? But I ended up saving my favorite locks, washing, drying and tucking them away. I had imagined an embroidered self portrait with the locks stitched in, but as I started painting this piece, I realized it was me, the way I felt for so long. For many years, I felt very alone, with few people I can really be honest with. I had a lot of nightmares about drowning, usually several a week. When I got sad, I also got angry. My dreadlocks were with me as I found a place where those feelings are still there sometimes, but not controlling me the way that they used to be. So it's only fitting that they should be on this portrait.

Sullen by Songs4Drowning, on FlickrYou couldn't really see it in the full picture, but in the second dread from the ear, there's a little piece of red yarn from one of my Craftster swap projects that somehow ended up getting dreaded into my hair! I didn't know about it until I was inspecting the dreads before sewing them on, but as soon as I saw the color, I knew exactly what it was from!

I'll likely add more pics tomorrow that I can get in sunlight. The colors don't look right to me, but I was too impatient to wait for sunlight and I'm actively avoiding homework. :O

EDIT: I think the colors are much more accurate in this picture. The way I did the painted hair was by painting the area with water and drizzling/dotting in the watered area with alcohol inks. They dry so fast that even though they spread through the water and tinted the area, the place where they fell directly was much darker, so you can see the lines and dots. The octopus charm has a thin layer of metallic green paint on it as a veneer. It still looks mostly gold, though.

Restricted to people who all live in the same country? NOIf so, which country? -

Additional Age requirement? Nope

Swap Organizer himself/herself meets these conditions:- Has fully read the Swap Info Guide: YES- Has successfully completed two swaps as a participant: YES- Is not organizing more than three swaps right now: YES- Will recruit a co-organizer or give all details to a Swap Moderator if this swap has more than 25 participants: YES- Is at least 18 years old: YES

Swap Organizer will check each participant to make sure they meet these conditions:- Has been a member for at least one month: YES- Has posted at least 15 times: YES- Has completed one swap successfully before signing up for multiple swaps at a time: YES- Is not currently signed up for more than five swaps: YES- Does not have any negative feedback: YES- Participant has agreed that he/she is at least 16 years old: YES- If within the US, understands that Delivery Confirmation number is required for this swap: YES- If outside the US, understands that a mailing receipt copy is required for this swap: YES

Details of swap:Calling all Illustrious Grand Masters of Crafting, be you Alliance or Horde! It's time to earn the [Craftsterer] loot acheivement by hanging out with your fellow WoWheads and giving and getting some great World of Warcraft swag. Be you a brand new Mcnubbin or a lvl 85, flavored vanilla from day one, come join us. It's the easiest way to get great stuff without the AH prices or dealing with Trade chat.

This swap is TINY! The guidelines are one item that is smaller than about 4 inches by 4 inches. Despite being small, this item should be highly detailed, and show a lot of skill. No extras, please!

Please make sure you swing by at least once a week in the swap thread to /talk or /taunt. No PvP plz.

If you want to participate, information to send to organizer:

QUESTIONNAIRE TO ANSWER:Name of swap: World of Warcraft Swap Round 2Craftster usernameEmail addressYour real nameMailing address including the countryWould you be willing to ship to an address outside your own country?Confirm that are at least 16 years old or, if not, that you have moderator approval(YES/NO)About youFaction:Toons:Favorite in game items or aspects?What are your best crafts?What crafts do you admire?Crafting for the opposite faction, cool or not cool?:Would you like practical or ornamental items?Any special requests?/other things that your partner/the organizer should know?Do you have any allergies or allergens in your home?

Would you like to share your realID with your partner?

IF YOU WANT TO PARTICIPATE, REMEMBER TO SEND YOUR INFO TO SONGS4DROWNING VIA PRIVATE MESSAGE AND NOT TO REPLY WITH IT HERE.

Also, remember to read the Swap Info Guide to find other rules about participating in a swap.

Our recent World of Warcraft swap is starting to wrap up, and I know that for a lot of us it was a pretty stressful swap! Instead of diving right into another round of a large swap, how about we take a small break with a OTT?

One item swapped, no larger than 4x4 inches. How does a 10 day sign up with a 2 week crafting period sound?

In the World of Warcraft swap, I made aliceownsj00 an amigurumi Deathwing! I bought a simple dragon pattern from ravelry: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/amigurumi-baby-dragon and made the head, body, legs and wings from the directions. I used Lion Brand Homespun together with regular Red Heart acrylic (Homespun is a pain to start a round with on it's own!) and upped the gauge of my hook. In return, the dragon ended up being around 27" long from tip of nose to tip of tail! The wings are also homespun and acrylic, for the eyes, I wanted the orange to be bright so I did a layer of Sugar and Cream cotton under/around them, and the armored plates for the jaw and on the body are two strands of Vanna's Choice Glamor and one of Vanna's Choice together. In the right light, the glamor is metallic! The orange is supposed to be "seams" where the inside fire of the dragon can be seen from where he was thrown into the earth after being defeated. A cult is using armor to hammer him back together, so yeah.

Ever since I bought a gorgeous fused glass pendant off of etsy, I've been telling my boyfriend that I want to do glass fusing and get a kiln because I think the craft is so beautiful and well....great! And he has suggested that perhaps I try the craft to see if it's something that I would want to do all the time and actually like to do before we drop our tax returns on a very expensive and very large crafting tool such as a kiln. I think that's a pretty good point. So we found a local place that does painting of pre-made ceramics that also happens to teach and have space for glass fusing and throwing pottery with wet clay. Sweet, right? The best part is there is no studio fee if you're doing glass, you jut pay for the base piece of glass that you're building your design on and then pay a fee for the second run through the kiln if you want your piece slumped. So the other day we picked up the very first glass piece I've done! I didn't want to glue a bail to the back for hanging on the wall, because I was really scared of it falling off the wall and shattering. So we bought a frame in horde colors at Target, I chose a nice background from my scrapbooking stash and I glued the piece onto the glass frame. Now it has a place of honor at my desk so I can show my pride while I game!

I used a sharpie to draw the horde symbol on the glass, then outlined it with white frit. Then I filled it in, loose mosaic style with pieces of opaque red glass and then cut opaque white out to draw on with the little enamel stuff that the name escapes me now.

Swap name: World of Warcraft Swap Round 2Craftster member who is organizing this swap: Songs4DrowningSign-up date range: 1-6-2011 to 1-27-2011Date to send item by: 3-1-2011

Limited to a certain number of people? (optional): Nope

Restricted to people who all live in the same country? NOIf so, which country? -

Additional Age requirement? Nope

Swap Organizer himself/herself meets these conditions:- Has fully read the Swap Info Guide: YES- Has successfully completed two swaps as a participant: YES- Is not organizing more than three swaps right now: YES- Will recruit a co-organizer or give all details to a Swap Moderator if this swap has more than 25 participants: YES- Is at least 18 years old: YES

Swap Organizer will check each participant to make sure they meet these conditions:- Has been a member for at least one month: YES- Has posted at least 15 times: YES- Has completed one swap successfully before signing up for multiple swaps at a time: YES- Is not currently signed up for more than five swaps: YES- Does not have any negative feedback: YES- Participant has agreed that he/she is at least 16 years old: YES- If within the US, understands that Delivery Confirmation number is required for this swap: YES- If outside the US, understands that a mailing receipt copy is required for this swap: YES

Details of swap:Calling all Illustrious Grand Masters of Crafting, be you Alliance or Horde! It's time to earn the [Craftsterer] loot acheivement by hanging out with your fellow WoWheads and giving and getting some great World of Warcraft swag. Be you a brand new Mcnubbin or a lvl 85, flavored vanilla from day one, come join us. It's the easiest way to get great stuff without the AH prices or dealing with Trade chat.

Swappers will be put into two groups. The swap is 5 points, but if you would like to craft and receive extras, such as for a significant other or friend or even just because you're rollin' Greed, you will be grouped with like minded craftsters. How much extra to craft is between you and your partner. If you sign up for the group that does not do extras, please please adhere to that and do not send extra items.

Please make sure you swing by at least once a week in the swap thread to /talk or /taunt. No PvP plz.

If you want to participate, information to send to organizer:

QUESTIONNAIRE TO ANSWER:Name of swap: World of Warcraft Swap Round 2Craftster usernameEmail addressYour real nameMailing address including the countryWould you be willing to ship to an address outside your own country?Confirm that are at least 16 years old or, if not, that you have moderator approval(YES/NO)About youFaction:Toons:Fave /silly:Fave /flirt:Fave Zone:Fave NPC?:Other game favorites?:Do you collect mounts/pets/weapons/etc?Favorite crafts to do?About your partner and wishesCrafting for the opposite faction, cool or not cool?:Would you like practical or ornamental items?Any special requests?/other things that your partner/the organizer should know?Do you have any allergies or allergens in your home?

Would you like to share your realID with your partner?

Would you like to craft/receive extras?

IF YOU WANT TO PARTICIPATE, REMEMBER TO SEND YOUR INFO TO SONGS4DROWNING VIA PRIVATE MESSAGE AND NOT TO REPLY WITH IT HERE.

Also, remember to read the Swap Info Guide to find other rules about participating in a swap.